It is a well-known fact that, in certain weather conditions, shoes may become rather dirty and that snow, mud, dirt and the like may stick to them and, in particular, to the soles; by way of example, suffice it to mention ski boots, to which large amounts of snow may stick and which subsequently melts in heated environments, such as a bar, shop, home, hotel, bus, etc., transforming the floor into a dirty and slippery mess; or the mud which tends to stick to one's shoes when walking in a construction site, field, riding-ground, cross-country motorcycling course, etc. It is proven that, in the above-mentioned cases, due to both the scarse aptitude of the persons concerned to wipe their shoes adequately on the doormat, and to the fact that the latter are not of much use anyway. Traditional means are absolutely inadequate and insufficient, whereby floors tend to be perpetually dirty, slippery and, therefore, may become dangerous, without mentioning that they deteriorate rapidly, with a large economic loss.
It is equally well-known that a number of shoe-cleaning devices have been invented, for both homes and public premises; these generally consist of a case containing a suitably poweful motor which, by means of appropriate couplings, drives brushes of a certain hardness and colour, in between which the user must place his shoe, preferably without taking it off; these brushes clean the upper part of the shoe, restoring their original shine.
These machines, however, as mentioned above, clean only the upper part of the shoe, leaving the soles in the same condition they were in.